AT the end of December the sea around Jersey is, without fail, cold, grey and forbidding. Mid-winter seawater could, on the strength of its appearance, be a different substance from the balmy blue stuff that surrounds the Island during the summer season.

Strangely – at least from the point of view of those who want nothing to do with sea bathing at this time of year – the greyness and the cold do little to discourage the growing band of Christmas Day Swimmers who opt for total immersion before sitting down to the traditional turkey and sprouts.

Small groups of Islanders have swum at Christmas since the early years of last century, but this year more than 350 hardy souls took the plunge – or in some cases the cautious, tip-toe wade through the shallows – at Ouaisné, St Catherine’s Breakwater, Havre des Pas and Grève de Lecq. A few were year-round swimmers who take a dip every day of the year, but the majority made the special occasion an excuse for a very special and not entirely pleasant experience.

As anyone who has tested Jersey waters towards the end of December will confirm, temperatures hovering around 10°C are guaranteed to make most people wince. Then there’s the chill factor added by the wind as swimmers leave the water and try to stop shivering for long enough to get dry and dressed.
This, then, must be the question – why does anyone choose to participate in this masochistic ritual on a day that is more readily associated with eating, drinking, giving and receiving presents, and relaxation?
It is certainly one way of working up an appetite. It is also a route to a sense of personal achievement. And scientists will tell you that the stress and exertion of a cold-water swim are sure to encourage the brain to produce endorphins, those feel-good compounds also known as endogenous morphine.
There is, however, another reason why so many now elect to brave the cold in and out of the water. Many of the swimmers seek sponsorship to raise funds for good causes – ensuring that the physical warm glow induced in the period after the swim is accompanied by the psychological warm glow induced by completing a challenge in aid of a good cause.